About Me

Total Pageviews

Thursday, February 1, 2018

In the late 1950s, Rabbi Yechiel Perr, a rosh
yeshivah in Far Rockaway, married Miss Shani Nekritz, daughter of a rosh
yeshivah from Novordok, and granddaughter of Rabbi Avraham Yoffen.

Rabbi Yoffen arranged the wedding. Many of the
most well-known roshei yeshivah in the United States attended, so it was
difficult to decide who would receive the various honors during the chuppah. However,
there was one blessing under the chuppah that was given to a rabbi no one knew.
When asked why he was honoring this Jew, Rabbi Yoffen replied that he had his
reasons, and wouldn’t see anything more. The real reason was only revealed
after Rabbi Yoffen’s passing.

The unknown rabbi had a small shul in the Bronx.
Many years before the Perr-Nekritz wedding, he married off his own daughter and
invited Rabbi Yoffen to the ceremony. Rabbi Yoffen was a busy man, and knowing
neither this rabbi nor the couple, he hesitated to accept the invitation. But
the rabbi begged him to attend, so he finally agreed. Since Rabbi Yoffen didn’t
own a car, he expected the insistent rabbi to arrange his transportation. But
he didn’t. Rabbi Yoffen and his rebbetzin took a train and a bus to the
wedding.

Despite all this trouble, Rabbi Yoffen received no
honors at the chuppah, and no recognition of any kind. Rebbetzin Yoffen was very
upset and wanted to leave immediately after the chuppah. But Rabbi Yoffen felt
that they should stay until he had a chance to dance with the chosson.

Years later, when Rabbi Yoffen married off his
granddaughter, he went out of his way to honor this rabbi from the Bronx under
the chuppah. This was in tandem with a mussar concept he learned in Novordok:
When angry with someone, go out of your way to help them. That’s how one
improves his middos.

Of all
the miraculous events that transpired during the time of the exodus, and
afterwards, including the plagues, splitting of the sea, falling of the manna,
battle against Amalek, there was none as seminal as the giving of the Torah at
Sinai.

It is
axiomatic that the name of each parsha in the Torah is not haphazard or
flippant, but is a worthy title that connects to the essence of that portion of
the Torah[2]. Prima facie, it seems shocking that the
parsha which contains the giving of the Torah should not only be introduced
with the narrative of Yisro, but should be titled after him. Yisro, the
father-in-law of Moshe, was unquestionably a great man. He was a noted
idolatrous priest, who searched for truth, and subsequently rejected his
stature and false beliefs, to profess his belief in Hashem. He gave his
daughter as a wife to Moshe, and left his prominence behind to join the Jews in
the desert.

When
he arrived, and saw the process by which the nation received instruction from
Moshe, by waiting on line for many hours, he rebuked Moshe and suggested an
alternative approach based on a hierarchy of judges. His advice was heeded.

Yisro
was obviously wise and sagacious, but it still begs the question – should his
story serve as the introduction to the giving of the Torah? It is all the more
intriguing according to the opinion that Yisro only arrived after the Torah was
given[3].
According to that opinion, the Torah deviates from the chronological
presentation of events[4],
to ensure that Yisro’s story serves as the introduction to the giving of the
Torah.

Ohr
HaChaim Hakadosh offers a poignant and moving explanation:

By
presenting the narrative of Yisro before the giving of the Torah, the Torah is
conveying a deep and fundamental truth about why Klal Yisroel was chosen to be
the recipients of the Torah. Hashem was demonstrating that there is great
wisdom to be found among the nations of the world. They have tremendous
insight, innovation, and can accomplish great things. This was demonstrated by
the fact that Yisro, who was not a native of the Jewish people, yet his wisdom
and advice was appreciated, and had a great effect upon the entire nation.

The
Torah is showing that the Jewish people were not chosen to be the recipients of
the Torah because they are the wisest or the keenest of all the nations. In
fact, it is possible that there are wiser individuals from the nations of the
world than from the Jewish people. Rather, the Jewish people were chosen
“because of His kindness and His love for the forefathers.”

The
Ohr Hachaim concludes that one should ponder this point.

The
opening words of Pirkei Avos state: “Moshe accepted the Torah from Sinai”. The
question is that Moshe didn’t accept the Torah from Sinai; he accepted
the Torah from Hashem, at Sinai?

Moshe
was worthy to be the transmitter of the Torah from heaven to earth because he
internalized and personified the lesson of Sinai. Chazal[5]
note that when Hashem was about to give the Torah, the other great mountains – Mount
Tavor and Mount Karmel – bragged that they were tall and imposing, and
therefore, worthy to be the place where the Torah would be given. Sinai
however, was far smaller, and did not deem itself worthy for such an important
event. It was in the merit of its humility that, counterintuitively, it was
indeed chosen from all the other mountains to be the place where the Torah was
given.

Moshe
was worthy to receive and transmit the Torah because he was the humblest of
men. In that sense, he indeed received the Torah from Sinai, i.e. from
following the example of Sinai.[6]

In the
shmoneh esrei of Shabbos morning we state: “Moshe rejoiced with the gift that
was his portion, because he was called a trustworthy servant. A crown of pride
atop his head was given to him, when he stood before you on Mount Sinai, and
the two Tablets of Law he brought down in his hand…”

Moshe
rejoiced in his being worthy to bridge the physical world with the celestial
spiritual world, as it were. By transmitting the Torah to this world, he gave
humankind the ability to bring holiness into the world, and elevate the world
into a place worthy of the Divine Presence. Moshe was given that incredible
merit because of his unparalleled humility.

The
Jewish People were given the Torah, not because of their intellectual prowess
and abilities, but because of their open hearts, yearning to connect with their
Creator. That uniqueness was imbedded in their essence by their holy patriarchs
and forbearers.

The
Jewish people have undeniably contributed incredible things to humankind
throughout the generations. Our society, and the world throughout history,
would appear vastly different without the contributions of Jews, for good or
for better. However, that is not what makes us great, and that is not why we
were chosen to be the recipients and bearers of the Torah. It is because of our
desire and efforts to make ourselves worthy for that role, a role which we have
been groomed for since the inception of our nation.

Yisro
may have possessed great wisdom, but the Torah wasn’t given to him, or to any
of other brilliant scholars of the nations at that time. Moshe received the
Torah from the lesson of Sinai, and we were worthy of it because of our
striving to follow his lead. It is in the parsha named after Yisro that we
recognize that the greatness of our people is in our internal essence, not
external knowledge or innovation.

Our
greatness is not only from the study of Torah, but from our efforts to
internalize its timeless messages.

“Moshe
accepted the Torah from Sinai”

“Moshe
rejoiced with the gift that was his portion”

Rabbi Dani Staum,
LMSW

Rabbi, Kehillat New
Hempstead

Rebbe/Guidance
Counselor – Heichal HaTorah

Principal – Ohr
Naftoli- New Windsor

[1] Based on the
lecture given at Kehillat New Hempstead, Shabbos Kodesh parshas Yisro 5777.

[2] This is in
contrast to the chapters we have in Tanach, which were arranged by Christians
and have no meaning and often are puzzling.

[4] In tandem with
the rule of “ayn mukdam um’uchar baTorah” – the Torah is not bound to following
chronology, when altering it teaches us a lesson. Ultimately, the Torah is a
guidebook to life, not a history book. Although in teaching us its lessons,
many historical facts are indeed found in the Torah, that is not the goal of
Torah.